A Fort Smith favorite made a return to the local dining scene on July 8, 2014, when Auntie Anne's reopened its popular location at the Walmart super center located at 8301 Rogers Avenue in Fort Smith.

Ten years ago, the city of Fort Smith had three Auntie Anne's locations. One was located at Central Mall, and the other two were housed in Fort Smith's two Walmart super centers. No one really knew why the locations closed, but one-by-one they shut their doors until the last location closed around three years ago. At that time people thought that Auntie Anne's was gone forever.

Then about two months ago, a new franchise began remodeling the section of the Walmart super center on Rogers Avenue that used to house Auntie Anne's with plans to reopen this location. This examiner had the chance to talk to Kaitlin Haynes, the store manager for this location, about the return of this popular franchise. According to the new manager, this is a completely new franchise company that has purchased the location. So will there be other stores in Fort Smith? “As far as I know, my franchise owners are only trying to open this store up,” Miss Haynes said. Whether or not there will be more Auntie Anne's, at least folks will have the chance to enjoy this one.

Apparently there will be a lot to enjoy as the store treks along. “After a month I am hoping to have a grand opening celebration..It makes them [the employees] feel like they are really part of a team and not just working for me,” Kaitlin said. The grand opening will also have an added bonus for customers: Pretzel Club cards. These are the cards where if a person buys so many pretzels, they get one free. Ms Haynes also mentioned that she will have a Dollar Pretzel Day coming up in the future, and will also offer 10% off to Walmart employees and members of the military.

So as the new Auntie Anne's begins to wow customers, this examiner hopes that they will be here permanently.

If you enjoyed reading this article feel free to click on the SUBSCRIBE button at the top of the page and be notified immediately whenever a new article is published.

Share this article

Marc Hayot is an up and coming writer in the Fort Smith area. He moved to the River Valley five years ago and has grown to view it as home. Marc is an avid fan of dining out and has been on a "five year mission to seek out unique dining experiences." During his pilgrimage, Marc has sampled a wide variety of restaurants in Fort Smith and the surrounding areas. Contact Marc.